Davenport might go 'Cool' to battle global warming

Font Size:

By Tom Saul | Thursday, April 5, 2007 11:53 PM CDT | () comments

During the week of Earth Day on April 22, Alderman Ian Frink expects Davenport to join the ranks of hundreds of other cities across the country that have signed on to battle global warming.

Frink will ask his fellow aldermen to agree to take the “Cool Cities” pledge offered by the Sierra Club. It asks officials to do what they can to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in their cities by 7 percent from 1990 levels and sets a deadline for the reductions of 2012.

“This is a grassroots, local answer to the global warming problem because not a lot has been done at the federal level,” said Colleen Sarna, who handles global warming issues for the Sierra Club in Illinois. “As of March 29, 435 mayors have signed the pledge.”

In Iowa, three cities have taken the pledge. In Illinois, 12 cities have signed up, including Rock Island, where initiatives and proposals include refurbishing a downtown building as a pilot using green design and sustainable energy features and possible purchase of a hydro-electric generating station on the Rock River to power municipal buildings.

“This is something we need to recognize and start dealing with,” Rock Island Mayor Mark Schwiebert said of the city’s sign-up in January. “If nothing is going to be done at the national level, we at the local level need to do something.”

Rock Island has hired a consultant to evaluate the costs and benefits of buying the dam off U.S. 67 near Milan, said John Phillips, city manager. The City Council has also set aside $700,000 for rehabilitating the McKesson Building on 1st Avenue near the Rock Island Armory to include use of wind and solar power, a “green” roof and installation of features to allow use of more natural light.

The federal government has been criticized by environmentalist and scientists for failing to enact policies aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions from use of fossil fuels. The emissions create a layer of gas in the atmosphere that traps heat that is gradually raising the temperature of the planet, they say. Global warming is predicted to have dire consequences for the environment and to cause flooding of coastal areas.

A Cool Cities guide published by the Sierra Club lists efforts initiated by municipalities across the country to reduce emissions. Some include greater use of hybrid vehicles, more energy-efficient design of buildings and use of renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and geothermal.

Davenport has already started programs to reduce greenhouse emissions, Frink said. Some include greater energy efficiency designed into the new police station under construction at West 4th and Harrison streets, new parks and greater use of hybrid vehicles capable of using gasoline and electricity.

A list of other initiatives done by the city includes a 6 percent reduction in fossil fuels used by the city’s vehicle fleet, the capture of methane gas produced at the sewer treatment plant that is then turned into electrical energy, the replacement of 1,200 incandescent light bulbs with more energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs and the planting of trees.

There are other initiatives planned by the city, Frink said. Some of them include encouraging residents to use public transportation, replacing many large engine non-emergency vehicles with those using smaller engines and using more alternative fuels in the city fleet.

Another major part of the Cool Cities pledge will be to raise public awareness of global warming and the things residents can do on their own to reduce emissions in Davenport, Frink said.

“Everyone needs to pitch in on this,” Frink said. “All of the stuff coming out of the scientific community shows that this will be huge problem for everyone if we don’t do something.”

Tom Saul can be contacted at (563) 383-2453 or tsaul@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at www.qctimes.com.